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I found a great whale watcher

September 2, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I miss my time aboard the Atlantic Star where we would head out to sea in the early morning and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins would be at the surface near the bow of the boat as if leading the way for a great trip. Ah, those were the days. As a substitute I did discover Ms. Monica Wieland who has a great blog about her sightings of killer whales, Orca orca. Her photos and blog descriptions are dynamic and captivating and I enjoy what she has to share. Recently she even wrote about her encounter with Mr. Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Sheperd (the boat that is famous from Discovery Channel’s  Whale Wars).

I hope you find as much enjoyment with the images of Ms. Wieland’s  magnificent neighbors as I have these days!

I love how the motion of the tail slap is captured here:

Image (c) Monika Wieland 2010.

Filed Under: Marine Mammals, People, Random Fun! Tagged With: ,

What is a fish kill?

August 23, 2010 by 1 Comment

Like it or not sometimes fish kills occur. It is a harshly worded phrase used to define a massive localized die off of a fish population. When there is a fish kill it is a serious matter that environmental agencies use an indicator something may have run a muck in the local ecosystem. Although, fish kills can occur due to natural causes or artificial causes.

For instance, recently in New Jersey the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determined that a menhaden fish kill was attributed to a lack of oxygen (hypoxia). It seems as though over one million of the tiny bait fish were swam right into shallow water, perhaps being chased by a predator such as bluefish. All those fish in the shallow water used up the limited oxygen before the tide could take them back out to sea. The water was tested by the DEP and was said to have a very low oxygen level due to very warm air and water temperatures. Fish kills are very prevalent in the warmer months. Other natural causes of fish kills may include drought or underwater earthquakes.

Meanwhile, in Mississippi there was a similar fate for speckled trout that may have been caused by the tar balls and patties that locals have been seeing wash ashore.  Thermal pollution (heated water let off of a nuclear plant), oil, chemical or hazardous waste spills are some of the major causes of man-made fish kills. The use of oil water separators technology can also help in filtering the oil, chemical or hazardous waste spills.

What can you do to prevent a fish kill? Please do not over fertilize your lawn, overstock fish in your pond at home, feed ducks or sport fish, and always try to prevent garbage from entering your local watershed.

Photo (c) http://ian.umces.edu

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Filed Under: Fish, People Tagged With: , , , ,

How did the loggerhead sea turtle get its name?

August 16, 2010 by 3 Comments

The loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, was given the common name because it has such a massive head.  On this massive head is an incredibly powerful jaw that aids the turtle in consuming any type of food it can get its mouth on. This can include corals, sponges, crabs, jellies, fish, other sea turtles,  sea urchins, and even octopi. They are true omnivores. This jaw is the most powerful jaw of all the sea turtles. Out of all the turtles in the world it has the second most powerful jaw coming in behind the Alligator snapping turtle.

Image (c) treehugger.com

Filed Under: Sea Turtles Tagged With: , ,

Understand marine debris ASAP

August 13, 2010 by 2 Comments

Oh no! It is that moment when I am finally relaxed and settled into my chair at the edge of the water and I look up from my book to see a plastic wrapper whizzing into the sea. I take a look around and do not see anyone running to grab it so I get up and run for the trash. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that trash falls out of our hands from time to time. That is why I am one of those people that tend to make the extra effort to do the right thing and pick up after someone else, I hope someone would do the same for me. Basically, I have an active imagination. I see the future of this plastic bag as having a relaxing trip to the open sea where it floats on the bright and sunny surface only to be mistaken for a nutritious and delicious jelly by a leatherback sea turtle. Only it gets lodged in the turtle’s throat. It turns out to potentially suffocate the animal and may lead to his eventual death. Yes, that is where my imagination takes me … Unfortunately it is all too much a reality. Watch this clip of an Ecuadorean team of scientists trying to save this green sea turtle who was too weak to survive since his gut was full of plastic.

This plastic bag and other man made trash items that sea creatures commonly mistake for food are collectively known as marine debris. Items may include plastic bags, cigarette butts, fishing gear, bottles, cans, caps, lids, you name it … it is marine debris. The marine debris doesn’t just come from pieces that fly out of our hands while at the beach. The trash that ends up in our ocean can come from drains and sewers on our street. The ocean is the largest body of water and a part of the world wide watershed.

One of the most alarming illustrations of how much marine debris has ended up in our ocean ecosystem is the presence of the Pacific Garbage Patch. In the northern Pacific Ocean (in between Hawaii and San Francisco) there is an island of marine debris larger than the size of Texas that is held together by a centrifugal force of the ocean current known as the North Pacific Gyre. You cannot see this patch from a satellite image because it is simply suspended particles of shoes, toys, plastics bags, wrappers, tooth brushes and many bottles.

Marine debris is everywhere and is quite a nuisance for life in the oceans. In the summer when we are all enjoying a few relaxing days on the beach or on the boat let’s do our part and “leave only footprints and take only pictures”, ok?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Learn more about marine debris from the short video by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.

Also, here is an excellent example of what is being done to acknowledge the issue of marine debris and taking the effort to help eliminate it. Thanks, New Hampshire!

Here is a nice site that outlines what you can do to reduce your plastic footprint.

Image (c) wildeducation.org (leatherback sea turtle) and coffeencrafts.blogspot.com (trash)

Filed Under: Jellyfish or Jellies, Ocean, People, Sea Turtles Tagged With: , , ,

15 facts about sharks

August 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

1.) Sharks are divided into 8 orders.
2.) Sharks are again divided into 34 families.
3.) There are over 360 shark species.
4.) The largest meat eating shark is the great white shark (37 feet).
5.) The largest shark is the whale shark (and largest fish overall), a filter feeder.
6.) The second largest shark (and fish) is also a filter feeder, the basking shark.
7.) Dwarf laternfish (7 1/2 -8 inches), the spined pygmy shark (8 inches) and the pygmy ribbontail catshark (7-7 1/2/ inches) are among the smallest of the sharks.
8.) The fastest swimming fish are the mako and blue sharks which can swim upwards to 60 miles per hour.
9.) The shark with the strongest bite is the dusky shark with a jaw of 132 pounds of force.
10.) The dogfish is the most common shark species.
11.) The deepest diving fish is the Portuguese shark.
12.) The shark with the longest migration has been found to be the blue shark.
13.) Megalodon was an ancient shark that may have been 2 or 3 times as long as a great white shark.
14.) Megalodon means “giant tooth”.
15.) The fossilized teeth of a megalodon are as large as an adult’s hand.

Filed Under: Fish, Sharks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Penguin’s plight progresses

August 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Good news for five of the twelve species of penguins that were petitioned by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The lucky species that get a break for a time being include the Humboldt penguin of Chile and Peru and the yellow-eyed (pictured top), white-flippered, Fiordland crested and erect-crested (pictured bottom) of New Zealand.

Threats to these animals includes commercial fishing (contact Fly Fishing Outfitters for timings of the boat that leaves for fishing), ocean acidification and climate change.

Two other species, the African and southern rockhopper penguins, are awaiting a decision in September 2010 and January 2011. The other five species that the CBD wanted to list on the Endangered Species Act were not deemed in danger enough by the Interior Department. However, the CBD and Turtle Island Restoration Network are planning to file a suit for two of the five denied species to be reconsidered. Read more

Image (c) yellow-eyed magazineenz.com; erect-crested flicker.com.

If you have a question you’d like answered by the Beach Chair Scientist? Ask us at info@beachchairscientist.com!

Filed Under: Ocean, Penguins Tagged With: ,

What to eat this summer?

June 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment

From Good (an on-line web magazine dedicated to enabling  individuals, businesses, and non-profits to push the world forward) an infographic of the popular Monterey Seafood Watch Guides.

Filed Under: Fish, People, Random Fun!

No more fish in the sea

June 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

From Good (an on-line web magazine dedicated to enabling  individuals, businesses, and non-profits to push the world forward) an infographic detailing the decline of popular fish species in the last 50 years. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the Untied Nations calculates how many fish are left in the ocean by counting how many fish are allocated for harvesting (assuming the maximum are caught).

Filed Under: Bony Fishes, Fish, Ocean Tagged With: , , , ,

5 most dangerous shark species

June 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Since you asked … but, I’d like to preface this list of the 5 most dangerous sharks with this

Image (c) adsoftheworld.com

excerpt taken from an article in Time by Terry McCarthy.

“In California there is only one shark attack for every 1 million surfing days, according to the Surfrider Foundation. You are 30 times as likely to be killed by lightning. Poorly wired Christmas trees claim more victims than sharks, according to Australian researchers. And dogs — man’s best friends — bite many thousands more people than sharks do.”

Here is a list pulled from the International Shark Attack File. This file (dating from 1580 to 2008) has been compiled by the Ichthyology department of the Florida Museum of Natural History.

  1. White Shark (Commonly known as the “Great White Shark”, but, this is not the correct name since there is no “Lesser Great White Shark”) – 451 attacks
  2. Tiger Shark – 158 attacks
  3. Bull Shark – 179 attacks
  4. Sand Shark – 75 attacks
  5. Black tip Shark – 41 attacks

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Filed Under: Fish, Sharks

When did life in the ocean begin?

June 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

It is said that Earth was created about 4.5 billion years ago (bya). Life began about (note “about”) 3.5 bya. And, in fact, it is thought that life began in the oceans!

Follow the evolution of the whale on the National Museum of Natural History’s Sant Oceans Hall on-line ocean portal and see if the whale is evolving backwards. Sounds interesting, eh?

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Filed Under: Marine Mammals, Ocean, Random Fun!